The present application is the national phase of PCT/JP2009/051635, filed Jan. 30, 2009, which claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-277486, filed Oct. 28, 2008.
The exemplary embodiments described herein detail for illustrative purposes and are subject to many variations in structure and design. It should be emphasized, however, that the present invention is not limited to a particularly disclosed embodiment shown or described. It is understood that various omissions and substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, but these are intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims of the present invention. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The terms “an” and “an” herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item. This disclosure generally relates to a printed board, and more particularly relates to a printed board to be contained in an electrical junction box to be mounted on a motor vehicle or the like. Disclosed embodiments can reduce the number of holder for supporting terminals that are soldered on and protrude from the printed board.
An electrical junction box to be mounted on a motor vehicle contains circuit units that include printed boards and are laminated on one another in a high density. In order to connect a conductor on the printed board to an external circuit and/or an internal circuit, terminals are soldered on the printed board, to be connected to the conductor and the terminals protrude from the printed board. These terminals are inserted into and protrude from terminal apertures in a connector containing section, a fuse containing section, and/or a relay containing section provided in the electrical junction box to be connected to a mating connector, a fuse, and/or a relay. Alternatively, the terminals protrude into a connector housing mounted on the printed board and the connector housing is coupled to a mating connector housing to connect the terminals to each other.
For example, a method for attaching terminals to a printed board has been disclosed in JP 2003-208939A (Patent Document 1). As shown in FIGS. 11A to 11C, connector units A, B, . . . are soldered on a printed boar 100. In each of the connector units A, B, . . . a lower end of each of a plurality of terminals 101 is inserted into and is soldered in each terminal aperture in the printed board 100 to stand up from the printed board 100. An intermediate portion of each standing terminal 101 is inserted into a holding member including a terminal plate 102 and a plate cover 103 so as to be held in the holding member. The terminal plate 102 and plate cover 103 are provided on the respective connector units.
As shown in FIG. 11B, each terminal 101 is a flat plate-like shape in a vertical direction. A lower end of the terminal 101 is inserted into a terminal aperture 100a in the printed board 100 and is fixed on the board 100 by a solder 120 so as to be connected to a conductor on the printed board 100.
FIG. 11C shows a crank-like terminal 110. The crank-like terminal 110 is inserted into a terminal aperture 103a in a terminal plate cover 103 in a vertical direction, then the terminal 110 is bent in a horizontal direction to form a horizontal portion 110a. The horizontal portion 110a is supported on the terminal plate 102. A distal end of the horizontal portion 110a is bent downward to form a downward bent portion 110b. The downward bent portion 110b is inserted into a terminal aperture 100a in a plate board 100 in a vertical direction and is secured to the plate board 100 by a solder 120 to be connected to the conductor on the plate board 100.    Patent Document 1: JP 2003-208939A